As the world grapples with escalating social, economic, and ecological challenges, the World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day (EBHC) is commemorated to raise awareness of the need to craft more data-informed healthcare policies to improve global health outcomes, as well as to share learnings from researchers, policymakers and healthcare professionals in improving global health.
Held on the 20th of October annually, World EBHC Day is a crucial platform to spotlight the shared knowledge and innovations that drive effective, evidence-based solutions. This year's theme, ' Beyond Health: From Evidence to Action,' emphasises the role of intersectoral collaboration in building resilient health systems.
Over the last 30 years, advocates for EBHC Day have stressed that the future of healthcare requires a collaborative effort and cannot be achieved in isolation.
They have also emphasised that tackling the world's most pressing issues, including climate change, requires collective action from various sectors -- health, environment, policy, or technology. This cross-sectoral engagement is a call to generate the evidence, however, in addition moving beyond simply generating evidence, but also urging stakeholders to translate it into actionable strategies that improve health outcomes and foster resilience.
Committed to exploring and sharing knowledge on critical health factors, such as the growing impact of climate change, Nigeria Health Watch is convening the 2024 Future of Health Conference.
The conference, themed "From Evidence to Action: Building Resilience at the Climate-Health Nexus," promises to delve deeper into the intersection of climate change and human health, providing a crucial platform for discussing strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on the healthcare sector.
Nigeria's urgent climate-health reality
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity with significant impacts on health. Nigeria, with its vast population and varied geography, is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Rising temperatures, increased flooding, and shifting rainfall patterns are not only threatening food security but also exacerbating diseases like Malaria, Cholera, and Lassa fever.
According to research in the Pan African Medical Journal (PAMJ), catastrophic floods have strained the country's healthcare infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, where access to quality healthcare is already limited.
The Future of Health Conference 2024 will bring these conversations to the forefront, particularly in the Nigerian context, where climate change's impacts on health are increasingly visible. The conference will highlight innovations and evidence-based approaches that address both health and climate challenges, urging stakeholders to integrate research findings into public health strategies.
Nigeria's fight against vector-borne diseases like Malaria can benefit from climate data that predict mosquito breeding patterns, helping to anticipate and mitigate outbreaks.
Similarly, urban planning and infrastructure development informed by climate and health data can reduce the risk of floods exacerbating the spread of infectious diseases, particularly in densely populated coastal cities like Lagos. By fostering partnerships across sectors, from healthcare to agriculture and the environment, Nigeria can serve as a model for how evidence-based action can address the unique challenges at the climate-health intersection.
Evidence-based healthcare approaches in other countries
One of the core challenges that Nigeria faces, like many other countries, is the difficulty in translating research evidence -- particularly clinical and field epidemiological data -- into practical, actionable strategies. However, other countries are making significant strides in bridging this gap by using evidence-based approaches.
For instance, Rwanda has been a leader in leveraging community health workers (CHWs) to improve health outcomes. By using evidence from epidemiological data and clinical research, Rwanda has expanded its CHW programme to include treatment for major diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea. This initiative has significantly reduced maternal and child mortality and improved overall public health across the country.
Rwanda's effort also demonstrates how well-designed policies rooted in evidence can optimise health systems, especially in low resource settings.
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Kenya has implemented its climate-smart agriculture strategy (2017-2026), focusing on building resilience in agricultural systems and minimising greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing food security. This strategy integrates evidence-based data to adapt to climate change, mitigate its impacts, and create an enabling policy framework.
South Africa on the other hand has employed real-time surveillance and climate modelling data to develop early warning systems for climate-related health impacts, aiding preparedness and response efforts.
For Nigeria to achieve similar impact, enhanced multisectoral collaboration between researchers, healthcare professionals, climate experts, and policymakers is essential. This collaboration will enable the adoption of evidence-based strategies that not only address current health challenges, but also build resilience against future threats.
This year's Future of Health Conference will serve as a platform for fostering discussions on the intersection of climate and health, and for driving evidence-based policy solutions to address these challenges.
